"Well, well,
well!" In the days of black and white TV the phrase was
used at least once a week when DCI Barlow of the Newton
Constabulary collared a miscreant in a malicious act of
wanton malfeasance. The villain, a lovely word that
comes from the old French for 'rustic,' would shrug,
he'd say something like "it's a fair cop, Governor" and
he'd be off to do his time in porridge without for one
second considering changing his lifestyle. No one
expected him to, there was no social warrior lurking in
the wings or evangelist hunting down hearts and minds,
why mess with anyone's choice of career or complicate
the plot.

I guess it
must have been color TV that introduced nuance. Some
villains knew they were doing wrong and rather than
admit to it would insist upon their innocence, an
additional complexity that meant stuff like forensic
evidence, finger prints, lab coats, cyber security
experts and stuff. In the process Villains became
downright biblically evil. More recently of course the
whole business of right and wrong has hit some kind of
wall as our species increasingly grapples with purpose
in a world that's changing far too quickly for most of
us. And yet "Well, well, well" still has value, there's
something "Go figure" comforting about it, much better
than the accusations contained in the anti-democratic "I
told you so."